Pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere has described as saddening the statement credited to the Executive Secretary, Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission, Alhaji Mohammed Shehu, dismissing the call for restructuring of the country.

Representing the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) at an event in Zaria, Kaduna State, Shehu was quoted to have said those calling for a restructuring of the country were ignorant.

Secretary-General of Afenifere, Mr Sola Ebiseni, in a statement on Sunday reiterated that the country needed to be restructured to get out of the current predicament.

Ebiseni said, “It is so unfortunate that Nigeria has descended so low that the position of the Federal Government or even the President would have to be deduced from some innocuous officials. From what I read in the newspapers, the fellow to whom this statement was credited to, Alhaji Mohammed Bello Shehu, who presided over the sharing of the revenue of the federation to which his state probably contributes nothing. How else can he impress his principal than tell him what would soothe his sectional and sectarian ego.

“The elected governors of the constituent states of the federation, the leaders of the entrenched federating ethnic nationalities, former leaders, presidents and knowledgeable personalities are all calling for the restructuring of the political architecture to reinvent the foundational federal principles of the polity and here you find an opportunistic official heading a parasitic office which had no place in a true federal state talking down on the nation.

“It is my submission that the statement could not be the opinion of General Buhari (retd) who is already seeking restructuring the current land use under the 1999 constitution to reopen grazing routes under a law made pursuant to the 1963 constitution.

“We are at a critical stage where children, particularly in states with the highest population of children out of school in the world, can no longer go to school at all for fear of being kidnapped for ransom. State governments are demanding the powers to establish State Police to deal with insecurity and prominent traditional rulers, especially Emirs have called on their people to rise in their own defence and some uninformed government officials are threatening us with war if we seek restructuring or self-determination. It is so nauseating, this rudderless government.

“In any event, restructuring of the political architecture of the country in the interest of the people, their security, and general wellbeing is not going to be at the pleasure of the President or the whims and caprices of his officials.